80 PSEUDOBOA FA SCI ATA. 



a little prominent ; back carinatedj with a longitudinal 

 row of larger scales. 



Spec. Char. — Body sub-triangular, yellowish, with 

 numerous dusky blue transverse bands. Length six 

 feet. 



Bung-arum Pamah ; Russ. Intl. Serp. p. 3, t. 2. Bungarus Annularis; Daud. Boa 

 Fasciata; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 353, t. 99. 



This species, which may be ranked among the most formidable of 

 the poisonous serpents, inhabits India, and is said to be not 

 uncommon in the country of Bengal. It is a large snake, mea- 

 suring six or seven feet in length, the diameter in the thickest part 

 being nearly five inches. It is of a yellowish colour, marked with 

 numerous dusky blue transverse bands, each band completely sur- 

 rounding the body of the animal, but somewhat paler underneath. 

 The head is small, hardly broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, 

 and covered in front with small suborbicular scales. The occiput 

 and middle of the head, between the eyes, is covered with ten large 

 plates, varying in size and figure. The rostrum is obtuse or sub- 

 truncate, the mouth of moderate size, and the jaws nearly equal. 

 The teeth in the lower jaw are numerous, reflex, very short, and 

 almost hid in the gum ; in the upper jaws the teeth in the two 

 palatal rows are also small. The fangs, in proportion to the size 

 of the animal, are remarkably short. The body is of a triangular 

 form, the sides sloping very considerably ; along the ridge of the 

 back runs a continued series of larger ciliated hexagonal scales, 

 those on the rest of the body being ovate, smooth, closely imbricate, 

 and very adherent. The abdominal scuta are very broad, and 

 finely ciliated on their margins. The tail is thick, five inches only 

 in length, and its termination rather obtuse. 



The bite of this reptile is regarded by the Indians as inevitably 

 fatal. Dr. Russel, in his splendid work on Indian serpents says, 

 that a specimen of this species was brought to him in the month 

 of November, 1788, in an apparently weak and languid state, having 

 been bruised in taking. Being set at liberty in a room, it crept 



